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Oct 26, 2009

Occupational therapists need more training in sight lossOccupational Therapists are not getting the training they need to deal with sight loss, says a new study commissioned by Thomas Pocklington Trust.

"Occupational Therapists are emerging from their education without the skills or confidence to deal with sight loss," says Dr. Angela McCullagh of the Thomas Pocklington Trust. "This gap in their training leaves therapists woefully ill-equipped to respond to the needs of an ageing population."

The study was carried out by researchers at the Department of Occupational Therapy, Coventry University. It found that training in sight loss has been and remains a low priority but that therapists want more training to respond to the needs of older patients.

Among a sample of qualified Occupational Therapists surveyed, all of them said education in sight loss would be useful in their work. However:

81% believed they needed further training in this area.

Only 2% felt that their education had left them confident to assess and advise people with sight loss, while 59% had been not at all confident or barely confident.

One third said their education had failed to provide enough knowledge on sight loss for their first post

Even experienced therapists still lacked confidence in treating people with sight loss. 34% said they were barely confident and 2% not at all confident.

Since the profession began, Occupational Therapists have always been involved in the rehabilitation of people with sight loss. Yet there is no mandatory requirement for this to be studied within the minimum standards for Occupational Therapist's education.